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Fiona Apple denies anorexia but lost weight because of rape

Fiona Apple, an American singer and songwriter, has had her share of tribulations having suffered with eating disorders amongst other things. Her lonely descent into food deprivation started after she was raped outside her home when she was just twelve years old. Unsurprisingly this had an extremely adverse and horrifying effect on the young girl and as a result she suffered from major depression, self-loathing and her eating habits became completely erratic.

A wild fire spread through the media with rumours abound that she was anorexic but she hit out at those claims saying that the drastic change in her appearance was not out of a desire to be thin but as a reaction to being raped.

In an interview with ‘Rolling Stone’ she said: “I definitely had an eating disorder. What was really frustrating for me was that everyone thought I was anorexic, and I wasn’t.”

“I was really depressed and self-loathing. For me, it wasn’t about being thin, it was about getting rid of the bait attached to my body. A lot of it came from the self-loathing that came from being raped at the point of developing my voluptuousness.”

“I just thought that if you had a body and if you had anything on you that would be grabbed, it would be grabbed. So I did purposely get rid of it.”

Fiona Apple relaxing at home

After the release of her 1998 album ‘Tidal’ she began to gain weight again in a bid to prove to her detractors that the size of her frame did not matter to her. She carefully explained herself by saying, “My plan is to gain enough weight that I can really be considered voluptuous, and do my ‘First Taste’ video. And I am preparing myself for what is going to happen. Because soon they will be saying that I’m fat. And it will hurt me.”

Many musicians have referenced their personal issues in their songs and Fiona is no exception as is evident in the track ‘Paper Bag’ from her second album.

She shot to fame with her album ‘Tidal’; the hit single ‘Criminal’ breaking plenty of sales records and also earning her a Grammy Award for good measure.

The talented singer and songwriter has made major headway since the troubled days of her youth and now has a more positive outlook on life again. She’s also looking terrific and her self confidence and vitality has returned to both herself and her music.